A series of street photographs linked by a fizzy drink draped in a distinctive red and white can. A street photography ‘concept’ album, if you like, neatly abstract yet soundly planted in the real.

Copyrightⓒ Yiannis Yiasaris

A man in a blue turban stares out from Domino’s Pizza window where skyscrapers, symbolic of upwardly mobile mega-billion corporations like Coca Cola, are reflected in the glass. You can also see ‘ENJOY’ creeping into the shot (a word we associate with the soft drink). In another shot a woman takes a pull from a can of Coke held tightly in her pudgy hands as she is captured head on by street photographer Yiannis Yiasaris.

Copyrightⓒ Yiannis Yiasaris

Meanwhile, a woman, sunbathing beneath a red and white polka dot umbrella and wearing a white and red polka dot bikini top, has dropped a bottle of Coca Cola into the sand to her left.

Things go better…

“I was on a beach close to my hometown,” Yiannis recalls. “The woman came and sat a few metres away from me. I noticed straight away the pattern with the dots and the red and white in reverse colour matching. I took my Ricoh GR out of my bag and waited for the perfect moment. Luckily the woman was thirsty and ordered out of all things, a bottle of coca cola. Fortunately I was able to take the shot. A few months later the same shot was part of the Miami Street Photography Festival.”

It seems ridiculous that a soft, fizzy drink should become so globally pervasive. But the ‘street’ presence of the famous red and white livery and signage soon became a project for the street photographer.

“Firstly,” He starts up. “I’m a big fan of the colour red. You will see the red element floating around in many of my photos. Because of this, I realised that I had a few photos with the Coca Cola logo or something similar, so I decided to turn it into a project.”

Beyond the Coca Cola street photography series there is a wide expansive universe of great Yiannis Yiasaris shots.

One night while checking out the street photographers’ work I found myself listening to Britney Stoney’s O.D. – my own personal song of the year. A mellifluous voice, smoothly incorporated in a floaty vibe with it’s own edgy grittiness (which occurred to me might be a good way of describing Yiasaris’ body of work?)

The two conspired to get me thinking about the work of the Greek-born, Melbourne, Australia-based street photographer.

“I’m not looking for anything in particular,” Yiannis had told me modestly. “Extraordinary things often happen in ordinary places. My aim is to be out on the street, capturing extraordinary moments with my camera.”

Despite his reticence I have a theory that all street photographers are searching for something more existential when they are “out on the street”. Maybe Yiannis, I am thinking, is trying to find his own inner self in each frame that he shoots, in each subject he settles on, perhaps?

The art, for me, is all about disruption on the giant movie set of life.

People moving around their everyday, aware of others but holding their personal space (civil inattention) – as much as is humanly possible. Head down launching themselves through space and time heading for that next rendezvous wherever and whatever that might be.

Meanwhile the street photographer is ever vigilant, watchful, looking for the next shot, the next juxtaposition, the next little ironic or extraordinary moment in ordinary lives. Cutting between the everyday and creating tension – tragic or comic – that is expertly mined by the best protagonists of the genre, including Yiannis Yiasaris.

Copyrightⓒ Yiannis Yiasaris

In his series familiar strangers, a tiny little man appears to stand on top a bald man’s head. The moment captured with great timing.

In another, Marilyn Monroe stares out from an Andy Warhol style pop poster with bright yellow hair just as a street cleaner with matching yellow brushes slides past.

Copyrightⓒ Yiannis Yiasaris

“I always look for funny elements when I’m on the street,” He told me. “I spotted the Marilyn Monroe poster and waited for something interesting to enter the frame. Not long after a cleaner showed up in his little vehicle with the bright yellow broom in front.”

Yiannis, of course, is not immune to that sense of wonderment that street photographers have for those around them, and it seems that street photography resonated with him rather than the other way round.

“Everything started seven years ago,” He said referring to his passion for the street. “I started taking photos on my mobile and posting these on social media. I also entered a few mobile photo competitions. The feedback I received was very encouraging and helped me to keep this interest going. I always remember having a natural curiosity about people and enjoyed observing them going about their everyday life.”

Yiasaris is searching for that framed snapshot of everyday life, that tells the story of a single moment, like a single droplet of water taken from an ocean. Always looking in at the world while that interrupted flow, caught unaware, looks back out at him.

Copyrightⓒ Yiannis Yiasaris

A girl, momentarily detached from her mobile phone, stares curiously at Yiannis as he shoots a street scene. Two young ladies in the background are deep in conversation while a skateboarder to the left of these girls concentrates on riding his board. To the right of phone girl (as we look at the image) we also notice a grey haired woman carrying ( what looks like) a newspaper and wearing a Paddington Bear style red duffle coat.

“One of my all-time favourite photographers is Alex Webb,” Yiannis tells me. “I love how he creates order in chaos. This photo was my attempt to do something similar. A lot of different subjects like the guy with the skateboard or the girl looking straight at me or the couple behind, the guy on top of the stairs waving to someone and the old lady entering the frame, all of these elements in almost perfect harmony.”

This is street photography at its absolute best and while having that floaty vibe with its own edgy grittiness, Yiannis Yiasaris’ street photography is also laced with something very difficult to achieve, an acute sense of beauty.

Copyrightⓒ Yiannis Yiasaris

“I think I’ve mentioned in another interview that unlike photo journalists, street photographers can choose the story that want to present to their viewers,” Told me thoughtfully. “Using, as primary tools, the light or the angle, the reflections or patterns or even colour combinations, we separate our main subject from all the other elements and you create an image that has its own identity and its own story behind it.”

Yiannis Yiasaris, a concept album of visual stories. Mmmm? Has a chime to it.

Sergio Burns
Sergio Burns Editor at Large, is an Author & a Senior writer for AM, a widely published Journalist in The Mail On Sunday, Contemporary, The Sunday Herald,
Blueprint, The New Entertainer (Spain), In These Times (USA), Austin Chronicles(USA), Whitewall (USA) & Sprudge (USA) to name a few.